Weekend Box Office Report: ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ Conquers All

After seven years of waiting, no one knew if a sequel to '300' would do the business of its predecessor. And now we have a definitive answer: yes. '300: Rise of an Empire' effortlessly took the number one spot at the box office, proving that America still loves shirtless Greeks murdering each other in slow motion.

Film

Weekend

Per Screen

1

300: Rise of an Empire

$45,050,000

$12,983

$45,050,000

2

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

$32,500,000

$8,261

$32,500,000

3

Non-Stop

$15,378,000 (-46.7)

$4,940

$52,117,000

4

The LEGO Movie

$11,005,000 (-47.2)

$3,345

$224,974,000

5

Son of God

$10,000,000 (-60.9)

$3,057

$41,494,000

6

The Monuments Men

$3,100,000 (-37.2)

$1,549

$70,602,000

7

3 Days to Kill

$3,062,000 (-38.2)

$1,304

$25,556,000

8

Frozen

$3,010,000 (-17.1)

$1,813

$393,051,000

9

12 Years a Slave

$2,175,000 (+122.9)

$2,042

$53,107,000

10

Ride Along

$2,004,000 (-34.0)

$1,515

$129,968,000

With a $45 million opening weekend, '300: Rise of an Empire' could potentially reach the gross of the first film if audiences are kind. It's rare for R-rated films to open this big and spawn franchises, but it helps that this uber-violent series appeal to both idiots and people who like smartly made idiotic movies. Let's see how next weekend treats it.

Second place went to 'Mr. Peabody & Sherman,' which opened to $32 million. The takeaway from this is that any CG-animated family movie will open well regardless of how off-putting the marketing is. It's not going to do 'The LEGO Movie' numbers, but it should be fine in the long run. This thing will have a long life on DVD.

Meanwhile, 'Non-Stop' fell to third place after being last week's champion, grossing $15 million for a $52 million total. That's a bigger drop than anyone involved in the film probably wanted, but the production is already getting pretty close to making a profit. Liam Neeson's action career lives on!

And then we come to 'The LEGO Movie' in fourth place. Thanks to new family movie competition, this was the roughest weekend yet for the film, but it still performed well, grossing $11 million for a $224 million total. Right below it, 'Son of God' dropped a devastating 60% for $10 million weekend. Well, it would be devastating if the movie wasn't made for pennies and already made its money back when it aired on TV. The producers are fine, but their fans have sent them a message.

Elsewhere, 'The Monuments Men' solidified its sleeper hit status by crossing the $70 million mark, '3 Days to Kill' continued to bomb and 'Ride Along' continued to collect pennies despite its run pretty much being over. 'Frozen' rode its Oscar success to $393 million, which means that $400 million is inevitable. '12 Years a Slave' re-entered the top 10, collecting another $2 million, showing that yes, it does pay to win Best Picture.